Last Ride of the Month

I absolutely had to ride my bike today. It's the last day I can use my bus pass. Technically, I have two more days in the month to use it, but I won't.

It was a damn fine day to ride this morning and I could tell I hadn't ridden in over a week. My legs were screaming on the hill. But the weather was warm enough to make the ride pleasant and cool enough to wake me up.

We broke out the tandem last night and did a little ride around the park. I think I like it but thank God it's not my only bike. It seems like we can't go as fast . The difference between 18 and 21 speeds is amazing.

I also thought that it would be less effort but that did not seem to be the case. I think that part of the reason is because of the way I sit on it. It's a lot more upright than my mountain bike. You don't have the position where you can push down with some of your body weight. In this position, you have to use more leg.

Riverfront Park was all set up for this weekends Labor Day extravaganza, "Pig Out in the Park". It's already gone on for two days but the weekend is where it really takes off. In fact, I believe we are riding the tandem down there tonight.



I rode to Taco Bell at lunch time and I saw Tatt there. You may recall that he is one of the guys I see on the bus on a semi-regular basis. We continued to our relationship of not acknowledging each others existence. I did learn that his name is Glenn. (or Glen...not sure) They called his name when his order was ready. Somehow, I managed to remember it long enough to get it listed here. I'm horrible with names.

Crawling Commute

It's raining and has been over night. It was a good day to drive . . . until I hit the Freeway. It took me ten minutes to go the first mile. I usually try not to look at accidents because I hate feeding into the slowdown. It's really hard to NOT look!

Today the traffic was crawling along and so there was no reason not to look. As I came upon the accident, there was a large tractor trailer blocking my view. Even if I wanted to see it, I couldn't. Right at the last minute, the trailer pulled ahead, revealing this tremendous wreckage of a Semi Tractor that had hit the bridge abutment. I suddenly wished I had prepared my camera. What the Hell was I thinking, not having it at the ready?! I always have it with me for just such an occasion. I pretty much suck as a photographer.

With three days and 75 miles remaining to attain my goal of riding 150 miles for the month, I am forced to readdress my goal. I shall now attempt to at least beat last months total of 106 miles. Hopefully, the rain will have ended tonight so I can ride a few miles.

New Addition

I've been keeping my eye on Craigslist.com for a tandem bicycle. There have been a couple that are good deals but I can't get to them before someone else does. I finally beat the crowd to one yesterday.

The brand is Micargi, which I have never heard of and know nothing about. I found their website but it hasn't been very helpful so far. I want to find out if $350.00 is a good price. I think it is but I just don't know how good the quality is in a Micargi bike.

I'll tell you this. The thing is brand new. It's a nice clean bike with no scratches, blemishes or dings on it. It's an 18 speed bike. I'm going to get Susan and I entered into SpokeFest and ride the 26 mile course with this baby.

Approaching the Deadline

I was planning on riding my bike today, even with the questionable weather forecasts pridicting the chance of occassional showers. Then I remembered I have a Dentist appointment at three. That put the kill switch on riding.

I have six days remaining to ride about 75 miles.

A Huge Dissappointment

I am a huge disappointment to myself. I should be riding my bike and I could be riding my bike but I have managed to find reasons not to.

My strongest excuse for not riding was yesterday when it rained quite heavily for a good portion of the day. It would have been a wet ride to work but nice going home.

Today is perhaps my weakest excuse. Going to Costco after work. I could have ridden the bike and then rode home and then driven to Costco and meet Susan. It is certainly a nice enough day although the forecast is a bit trepidations. (That is not a word)

I blame the price of gas. I will fill up today for about $3.93 a gallon. I am astonished that I find that affordable but not $4.00 a gallon.

My excuse for not riding today has gained some strength. This is a picture of our parking lot about noon o'clock today. This picture does not do justice to the amount of rain that was coming down. The storm blew over pretty quickly but it was very intense. It seems as though the rain is going to stick around for a while.

I am vindicated! And waaaaaay behind in my miles.

Rain

Today is the first day since I have been riding where it rained heavy enough to prevent me from riding the bike. I drove yesterday too but I had important errands that required a larger carbon footprint for the day.

Today, I'm just a pussy.

Hot Hot Hot!

Yesterday's record breaking temperature was 103. Today is supposed to be cooler. It may get down into the 90's.

I didn't get very much bike riding in this weekend but I figured I'm about 90 miles away from goal of 150 for the month. I should be able to reach that.

I rode a few laps around the park last night. I set a pace time for one lap. I did the mile in 4:07. So now I have the goal of breaking the four minute mile. I'm just so damn goal oriented.

Todays Post

I donated blood yesterday and for the first time in three gallons, I felt tired all day

Returning Some Miles

What a beautiful morning. The temperature was comfortable, the landscape was peaceful and I was back on the bicycle.

Way Way Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Behind

I drove again.

I was planning on riding the bike today but I just have too much running around to do. I tried to fit it in yesterday but I ended up spending more time at the Doctors office than I planned. Nothing serious. They were able to fit me in for an Ultra Sound that we had not planned on. It's good to have that out of the way so I don't have to go back to have it done later. The good news from the Ultra Sound on me is that.....it's a boy!

Right now, we are just over a third of the way through the month and I am just short of a third of my miles needed to make my goal. I will ride tonight. I think I'll do some hills. Well, the hill! My goal there is to be able to get up the hill without taking a break.

Falling Waaaaaay Behind

Due to circumstances beyond my ability to care, I drove today. So again I am losing valuable miles towards my goal of 150 miles ridden this month.

I did manage to get out and ride a little this weekend. I got some great shots of Lightning on Friday evening. I took over 200 pictures to get about 15 that were any good. Here's one of them.

Falling Behind

I'm going to have to ride my bike a lot this weekend to catch up to my pace for attaining my goal. I only rode about 6 miles yesterday and I drove to work today.

I'm working both Saturday and Sunday at the bar so I am not going to have much time to get out there and ride.

The last couple of days have been bloody hot and today will be no better. Plus, thunder storms are threatening to burst forth. Another good reason the drive rather than ride.

Also, the price of gas is approaching my tipping point, from the high side. It's almost down to $4.00 a gallon. My riding the bus has made the price come down. I never thought I had that much clout.

Next I will see what I can do about high Cable prices.

Nothing to Report Again

It tried to rain on me this morning but, through a series of gracefully executed avoidance transpositions, I was able to miss it.

I forgot my bus pass this morning. I left it in my shirt pocket last night. Fortunately, I realized it early and I had a dollar so I was able to get on.

Beyond that, all I can report is that I rode about se7en miles yesterday.

Handy Bicycle Mechanics Trick

I stopped at a local bike shop (Wheel Sport) on my ride home last night. I needed to get a price on fenders and a bike rack. The kind sits over the rear wheel and allows me to add saddle bags. It looks like those items will cost me around $80.00 total.

I bought a couple of mirrors, one for me and one for Susan. It is a vast improvement over the mirror I had. It was one of those mirrors where objects are closer than they appear. I could never see anything behind me until it was right on top of me. This mirror is clear and sits snugly at the end of the handle bar.

The guy at the bike shop gave me great tip for installing the mirror. It fits into the tube at the end of the handle bar. Some bikes have caps over the hole and some have a grip. Our bikes have grips. So rather than take a knife and cut a ragged hole, he suggested using a hammer and tapping the end of the bar. That will cut the end of the grip off in a nice clean manner. It worked great!

Wheel Sport is selling Scooters. Fifty CC little scooters that get a hundred miles to the gallon and go about 30 mph. They are selling new ones for about $2,000.00. I need to start keeping an eye out for something like that. That and a tandem bike!

I rode the bus at my regular time and it was not as full as last week. Perhaps I need to log ridership by day of the week. Jasper and I got our bikes on and all was cool.

Yesterdays Total Mileage: 11.3 Miles

New Schedule

To make up some of the hours I lost dealing with the kitties, I rode an earlier bus today. I caught the 6:12 instead of the 6.42.

As I rolled out of the driveway for my morning ride downtown, the traffic lights were still blinking. In fact, they stopped blinking just as I approached the only traffic light I have to go through prior to entering the park. Fortunately, it turned green.

When I arrived at the Bus Plaza, I was surprised to see this scene. Normally, there are lots of people waiting around and several buses. I was the first one to the bus stop. I was not alone for long. The bus arrived and suddenly there were people all over. Also, the bus had one bike on the rack when it showed up.

My main point is that the bus was full.

While riding, I came to the realization of something I have known but never examined closely. If it wasn't for being able to ride my bike, I probably wouldn't be riding the bus. I like having the mobility to at least get out at lunch and manage a couple of errands. It's much less convenient without the bike.

Now that I have written it down and re-read it, it doesn't seem quite as profound as when I was being introspective and thinking of it. Part of my ride involves what I will write in this Blog. Is the Blog taking over?

Cat Duties

I rode the bike a lot this weekend so I gained some extra miles towards my goal. Good thing too because I had to drive to work today. I had an appointment this morning and take the cats in for their shots. Four cats, one trip, all done!

So, today will count as two and a half days driving to work. I drove out and back once. I drove half way back to go to the Vet. And then I drove out and back again.

The Gang hated the ride there as they do not like to be stuffed in the Cat Carriers. It always makes TJ pee. Today was no different.

Remarkably, they were very quiet on the ride home. They must have realized the torture was over and they were getting out of Gitmo.

Not as Chilly

It was a much warmer morning than in recent days. I couldn't find my gloves but it turned out I didn't need them. I had a nice ride downtown and really worked the hills for a change. I love the way I sail into and through the park in the morning.

To help with passenger bike flow, I took the Sullivan #72 Bus today.

I got down to the Bus Plaza and there was an unfamiliar girl standing there with a bike. Jasper wasn't there yet. By rights, I had my spot on the bus. When Jasper rolled up a few minutes later, he and I exchanged a look and then I said I would take the other bus. It gets me out to Liberty Lake about 10 to 15 minutes later than the #74. It also is a full bus. The majority of people get off as it goes through the Industrial Park.

It works out better for Jasper because the bus I normally ride goes right past his work. Going home is when time makes more of a difference to me. I always want to be home as fast as I can.

It is August now and I have a new mileage goal of 150 miles. There are 21 days in August in which I could ride to work. That means I have to ride se7en miles every one of those days. I plan on taking a few more evening rides to help pull those numbers up. Only 147.5 miles to go.